"Yes, IG is better than CMC in regards the opening time. If you have a trade open overnight, you might be sure that it will get slaughtered at 9.50, but there's nothing you can do about it, and sure enough it flashes 20 points and takes out your stop in the first 1 second. With IG, you can close before 9.50."
The reason u can trade ig and some others out of normal futures hrs is because ig is a market maker . I think u will find any major moves between close of spi in the morn and reopen is due to a fluctation on ES futures [sp500] and or pre market news but note ig and others that provide quotes out of futures hrs are often with a big spread between buy and sell prices and u are betting against them not an open market .
The spi futures close at 4.30 pm where as cash [xjo ] is fully closed at 4.11 pm .Spi reopens at 5.10pm and closes at 6 am the next morning . Actually better check that statement of 6 am closing tomorrow . But it definitely reopens at 9.50 am and has a mini style of auction thing so it gives a definitive price at 9.49 and 30 secs and then open for trades at 9.50 am on the dot . xjo opens at 10 am .
Some cfd providers do base their pricing on futures directly but often include a spread over and below the normal prices . http://www.axitrader.com/products/indices/ axi offer dax cac ftse hsi and spi all pricing based on real futures but they have a slightly wider permanent spread . Platform is meta trader 4 which is crap and basic but i use them for back up data . Note their spi future is the real thing and trades real prices during the day but they widen the spread after hrs when the market is thin and don't offer any pricing when futures markets are closed unlike IG etc .
I think others like fp markets offer futures in australia http://www.fpmarkets.com.au/futures/what-are-futures but remember with the above 2 they are still a cfd on futures and u use their platform .
If u want real futures I think IB [international brokers ] have the most available for trading ; https://www.interactivebrokers.com.au/en/main.php but I don't like their data as it is more snap shots every second or 2 than as it happens or so others say . I had an acct but closed it years ago.
amp futures in the usa has spi has a good range of futures but ninja trader is not ultra reliable but free and like usual if u want a top line and reliable platform u can pay hundreds of dollars a month for it . http://www.ampfutures.com/margins_req.html
Most cfd providers have crap entry and order tickets versus a real futures platform which can be traded on a price a ladder ,pic included i hope .
